Week 2

Thank God for the weekend.  I accomplished quite a bit this past weekend and had some very much needed down time.

On Saturday, I was fitted for my dress blues.  One of these days, I will try to figure out why I constantly find myself clothes shopping with women who are significantly smaller than me.  Nothing makes you feel like a big 'un more than taking a size 7 times bigger than your counterpart.  OK, so there's some consolation in knowing that I'm 6 inches taller than them. . .but not much. 

Sunday was a breezy day, but I went to the track, ran a couple of miles, and did some additional arm and ab work-outs.  Silly me. . .my heels were feeling so much better on Saturday that I didn't even protect them on Sunday.  I was definitely feeling the pain of that mistake.  If I didn't know any better I might think that I don't have  a lick of medical background.  What a goofball.  My blisters were so noticeable that a civilian in the laundromat pointed them out to me.  In a soft southern drawl she said, "Oh honey!  Those look like they hurt.  You wearin' new shoes?"  As my youngest sister said, they are "leper heels."  Hey, no pain, no gain!

On Monday, we had our first morning of PT (Physical Training).  It wasn't too bad.  I was definitely feeling the little bit of arms/abs I had done on Sunday, though.  Man, I feel so out of shape.

I did find a stray dog on Monday.  She's a young lab/golden mix (I think).  She's really skiddish, but beautiful, and probably only 4 months old or so.  I wish I had a way to get her someplace safe.  She followed me across the parking lot, so I was able to get her away from traffic.  We saw her this morning, too.  At least I know that she was still safe as of this morning.  I guess there's a whole pack of feral dogs on post.  Sad.

We also received all of our field gear.  It'll be 3 weeks in the field.  Since we're in Officer's Training, we come back to our rooms on the weekend.  Remember, this is a "kinder, gentler" basic training.  (-:  Even the tents are air-conditioned.  It blows my mind.  I look forward to seeing the Combat Support Hospital set-up, though.  Who knows, I might find myself in one of those, caring for the soldiers who are putting their lives on the line every day.

Speaking of which, if you haven't watched "Restrepo," I recommend it.  What a powerful movie.  It's available through Netflix.  We've watched almost all of it.  Again, if you ever have a doubt as to why I've made this move in my career, just watch that movie.

We're starting our platoon-specific education tomorrow.  That should be good.  No more briefings.  Thank the Lord!

I found out that I will be the Platoon Leader for the nurses in my class platoon.  I'm looking forward to the leadership opportunity.  We'll see how it goes.  It doesn't sound like too much responsibility, so that'll be good.  I'm still trying to get my mind into the Army mentality again.

I hope everyone's doing well.  I think of you all the time.  I even think about those yummy tater tots at Joe's.  If anyone's reading this from Joe's, have a few tots for me one morning!

Thank you for your support, calls, e-mails.  They mean the world to me.

--DV